Saturday, 7 September 2013

The night before.

I’ve mentioned this before but flying is not like driving a car.
Even for short, comparable journeys. To illustrate this, let’s take a look at
the thought processes involved in planning a trip to the same destination, by
road and by air.

The trip in question is Toronto City Centre to Claremont, ON. A
trip that according to Google Maps would take about an hour by road,
considerably less by air.

I’m going to need a bit of poetic license here because, as you may
know, I don’t actually drive. But I reckon I can take a rough guess as to what’s
involved!

2)By air (I swear this was
pretty much my exact stream of consciousness the night before a solo flight to
Claremont*)

Okay haven’t soloed
for a few lessons, let’s go over in my head what I need to remember, Weather is
looking a bit dicey - keep an eye on
that, phone flight services in the morning, what direction is the wind likely to be coming from? Southwest OK so my “bolt
hole” airport would probably be Oshawa, I know how to get to Oshawa, check the
frequencies are still written on my chart, chart – did I put my VTA back in my
bag after last time? Must remember to do that, Damn I need my CFS as well, do I
still have it or did RTH borrow it for his flight? Add that to list of things
to check, back to Oshawa I know how to get there, should still consider dialling
it up on GPS if cloud coming in, that’ll help with distances so that I know
where to make position calls and stuff, should ensure I have flight schools
phone number in case on unexpected landing, OK relax a little bit, unexpected
trip to Oshawa unlikely to happen, still weather is a concern, what to do if
cloud starts to come in? how will I know that going back to city is bad idea? Ask
someone? Who? Flight services- do I still have frequency list on kneeboard? Remember if visibility bad on way back-request special VFR, can't offer it, you have to ask, What
would I say to flight services, doesn’t matter I can make myself understood on radio, a few “umms”
never hurt anyone- just don’t make a habit of it, still my responsibility
though, PIC and all that, damn paperwork, WMAP you really shouldn’t gloss over
this like you do, check the damn paperwork on the plane before you take off, no
one to blame but yourself if docs not on board – do you even remember what you
need to carry? There’s an acronym, AROW…something or other, right you don’t
know this get Bob to go over it with you, ask him now, text him now, right will
look that up as well but get him to go over tech log and stuff again, weather
had better bloody cooperate after all this, weather-winds, ok, you are not going
to let the thought of a little crosswind freak you out, I’ve seen you land in a
10+ knot crosswind,, video evidence exists, no sweat- have a plan, maybe first landing aim for
overshoot- take good look at windsock and plan second landing accordingly, no
one would blame you for that, reasonable decision- it may be that you can
actually pull off the first landing but aim-to-overshoot never hurt anyone………

…….and breathe!!!!!!!

On paper the plane might look the quickest but it is NOT the
easiest for sure.

About Me

I once was terrified...... now I don't know what I am.
I started this blog as The World's Most Anxious Person aka WMAP.
I was scared of flying but now, somehow, I managed to get a Private Pilot Licence.
These are my thoughts......